Fountain Valley / Central Orange County
Brookhurst Street is where the restaurants we could confirm sit. First Washington Realty's tenant list for Fountain Valley Promenade (18279-18461 Brookhurst, 190,389 sq ft, anchored by Ralphs, Ross and T.J. Maxx) shows about a dozen food users, from a 7,000 sq ft Mimi's Cafe pad and a 5,631 sq ft Shabuya down to 1,950 sq ft sushi and Sichuan shops, many of them Asian concepts. Farther south, Chipotle's locator puts a store at 18951 Brookhurst, and a second Chipotle is at 17150 Brookhurst near Warner. For a first restaurant, the city's small format rules make spaces seating 50 or fewer the easier path: they are approved by the planning director instead of at a hearing, and beer and wine can be added under the same permit.
Population
56,258
Median HHI
$115,237
Median age
44.4
Homeownership
64.8%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Brookhurst Street · Magnolia Street · Warner Avenue · Talbert Avenue · Edinger Avenue
Specific shopping centers in Fountain Valley that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
NWC Brookhurst Street and Ellis Avenue
Anchors / key tenants: Ralphs, T.J. Maxx, Mimi's Cafe
First Washington Realty-owned community center on Brookhurst. Daily-needs grocery and value-tier soft goods anchor steady weekly traffic.
18880–18974 Brookhurst Street
Anchors / key tenants: Vietnamese and Asian restaurant cluster
Brookhurst's south Fountain Valley restaurant row — dense Vietnamese and Asian restaurant tenancy (Bao-N-Baguette, Brodard, Coq Au Vin, Mi A Dong, Pho Dakao, Pur Bowls FV, Quan Mii, Sharetea, Project Poke). Highest concentration of authentic SE Asian food operators outside Little Saigon proper.
17120 Magnolia Street at Warner Avenue
Anchors / key tenants: ALDI, CVS
Neighborhood center anchored by ALDI (opened 2015). Co-tenants include Mobile, Winchell's, Long Black Coffee. Strong value-grocery daypart.
17020–17136 Magnolia Street
Anchors / key tenants: Starbucks, GameStop
Smaller-format Magnolia Street neighborhood pad. Weekday lunch and after-school daypart.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Fountain Valley rents. These are publicly visible restaurant space businesses currently trading in the market.
Mimi's Cafe
Fountain Valley Promenade, 18461 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
7,000 sq ft pad (PADC1) on First Washington Realty's tenant list. The address is also on Mimi's own locations page.
Shabuya
Fountain Valley Promenade, 18279-18461 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Hot pot restaurant in 5,631 sq ft (space 7B), per the owner's tenant list. The largest inline restaurant in the center.
I Can BBQ Korean Grill
Fountain Valley Promenade, 18279-18461 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Korean barbecue in 3,995 sq ft (D1), per the owner's tenant list. Shin Sen Gumi Restaurant (1,998 sq ft, D2) is next door.
Amarith Table, Inka Cantina, Simply Pho Noodle House, Sichuan Kitchen and Full Moon Sushi
Fountain Valley Promenade, 18279-18461 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Sit-down restaurants of 1,718 to 2,800 sq ft on the owner's tenant list (F5 2,800; F3 1,718; E1 1,957; A1 and A2 1,950 each). Subway takes 1,020 sq ft (B5).
Chipotle Mexican Grill
18951 Brookhurst Street and 17150 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Both on Chipotle's own locator. The 18951 store falls in the south Brookhurst block the catalog calls the restaurant row.
01
Small versus large format: Chapter 21.90 splits restaurants at 50 seats. Table 2-6 (FVMC 21.10.030) permits small format restaurants in C1, C2 and CM, subject to a small format restaurant permit from the planning director under 21.10.060 ($209.05 in the FY 2025-26 fee schedule, renewed each year with the business license). Large format restaurants (51 seats or more) need a conditional use permit in CP, C1, C2 and M1, and a full CUP is $4,017. Count seats early: spaces the size of the 5,631 sq ft Shabuya suite or the 7,000 sq ft Mimi's pad will likely seat more than 50 and need a CUP, while a 1,950 sq ft sushi bar may stay under the line.
02
Alcohol: Table 2-6 lists on-premises alcohol sales as CUP/P in C1, C2 and CM, with note 4 allowing beer and wine under 21.10.060. Section 21.10.060(e) lets a small format restaurant add on-premises beer and wine (the ABC Type 41 profile) administratively if it posts under-21 signage, keeps LEAD certificates for staff, serves food at all open hours, keeps quarterly alcohol sales below food sales, does not advertise alcohol to people outside, and prevents drinking or loitering within 100 feet. Section 21.10.060(c)(8) sends every other restaurant serving alcohol, including a Type 47 full bar, to a CUP. The fee schedule also lists a $1,081.50 Finding of Public Need or Convenience for ABC, which ABC can require in some census tracts.
03
CUP triggers even at 50 seats: under 21.10.060(c), a small format restaurant still needs a CUP for accessory entertainment, a drive-thru, exterior amplified sound, public hours between midnight and 5:00 a.m., or doors and windows within 50 feet of a residential property line that the planning director finds could cause noise or odor impacts. The police standards in 21.10.060(d)(3) also bar live entertainment inside a small format restaurant and require security cameras covering the interior and the adjacent parking.
04
Patios and drive-thrus: Section 21.10.070 creates an administrative outdoor dining permit, but a CUP is required for outdoor dining within 50 feet of a residential property line, with entertainment or amplified sound within 200 feet of a residential zone, or open between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Drive-through sales are a CUP in C1 and C2 only, and 21.30.030 requires a queuing lane at least 150 feet long and 12 feet wide that blocks no parking or traffic lane, room for four cars before the menu board, and a six-foot wall next to residential parcels.
05
Parking: Table 3-3 (FVMC 21.22.040) parks small format restaurants at 1 space per 250 sq ft, the same as retail, and large format at 1 per 200. A patio under one operator's exclusive control adds 1 per 300 sq ft, while shared common seating adds nothing, and a dance floor is 1 per 35 sq ft. That makes a small format conversion of a retail suite parking-neutral, while a large format restaurant or a private patio adds to the center's count.
06
Kitchen and grease: OC Health Care Agency's Plan Check unit must review plans for every new or remodeled food facility. Section 21.10.060(d)(2) requires compliance with the building code on grease interceptors, and the city's fee schedule lists an OC Health Care Agency FOG Control Program charge of $92 a year ($186 per reinspection) under Chapter 14.36. OC San's FOG Ordinance OCSD-25 covers food service establishments in its area (OC San is headquartered in Fountain Valley), and its design guideline sets interceptors at 750 gallons minimum and 1,500 gallons maximum unless otherwise approved. Ask the landlord for the size and pumping records of any existing interceptor before you price a Korean barbecue or hot pot kitchen.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.